Read Online A Very Private Plot by William F. Buckley - Free Book Online
Authors: William F. Buckley
Ads: Link
the announcer reported. The camera then focused on Sergei Chervonopisky, a thirty-two-year-old former major in the Soviet airborne troops who had lost both legs in the war. He was one of 120 Afghan war veterans in the Congress. Chervonopisky lashed out at Sakharov for telling the reporter from a Canadian newspaper, the Ottawa Citizen , that Soviet pilots sometimes fired on Soviet soldiers to prevent them from being taken alive by Afghan rebels.
âTo the depths of our souls we are indignant over this irresponsible, provocative trick by a well-known scientist,â Chervonopisky declared. He accused Sakharov of trying to discredit the Soviet armed forces and attempting âto breach the sacred unity of the army, the Party, and the people.â The camera turned then to General Secretary Gorbachev. He was joined by the entire Politburo in a standing ovation for Chervonopiskyâs censure motion. Chervonopisky had shouted out, â The three words for which I feel we must all fight are state, motherland, and communism .â Speaker after speaker heaped opprobrium on Sakharov. âWho gave him the right to insult our children?â a middle-aged farm worker had declared indignantly.
Nikolai Trimov closed his eyes and formulated a sacred pledge. Something that had been gestating deep within him since he first absorbed the details of The Episode from the lips of a schoolmate six years before, and fused them with what he had learned about the death of his grandparents.
Nikolai resolved to assassinate the leader of the Soviet enterprise. That meant, to kill the General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev.
CHAPTER 8
APRIL 1995
Wearing light corduroys and a crew-necked gray sweater, Blackford opened the door of his house in Virginia to Arthur Blaustein, chief counsel to the Senate Committee on Intelligence. Blackford had read several months agoâand this morning had got from Nexis a copy, to refresh his memoryâthe profile of Blaustein published in the Washington Post the day his appointment was announced by Senator Blanton.
Arthur Blaustein was born in 1960, the son of a federal judge in Milwaukee. At the University of Wisconsin he majored in Russian studies and served as editor of The Daily Cardinal , the student newspaper. In a widely discussed editorial published a week before the 1980 election, the student newspaper, at the direction of editor Blaustein, endorsed the candidacy of Barry Commoner and LaDonna Harris, who were running for President and Vice President on the American equivalent of a Green ticket, calling for environmentalist totalism and unilateral disarmament. From there to the law school at Harvard, after which Blaustein clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall. From there he went to work for independent counsel Lawrence Walsh, who was investigating Iran-Contra, the gravamen of which was that the Reagan administration had illegally supported the Contra movement in Nicaragua, using funds illicitly obtained for that purpose. Blaustein was prominently associated with the trials of John Poindexter, Oliver North, and Richard Secord. He was highly visible in the prosecution of Elliott Abrams and Caspar Weinberger, whose prosecutions were aborted by the controversial pardons handed down by President Bush in the last days of his presidency.
One week ago, the Senate had voted a contempt citation against Blackford Oakes. The sergeant at arms to whom the matter was assigned had yesterday announced that the malefactor, Blackford Oakes, should report to Room S321 in the Capitol at noon, April 19. This was a most unusual procedure, reactivating congressional punitive dramas associated for the most part with the nineteenth century.
The news story describing the Senate vote and the order given to the sergeant at arms explained the procedure in some detail. Any failure by Mr. Oakes to report as ordered would result in his arrest. The debate in the Senate had featured the spirited opposition of senators from the
âTo the depths of our souls we are indignant over this irresponsible, provocative trick by a well-known scientist,â Chervonopisky declared. He accused Sakharov of trying to discredit the Soviet armed forces and attempting âto breach the sacred unity of the army, the Party, and the people.â The camera turned then to General Secretary Gorbachev. He was joined by the entire Politburo in a standing ovation for Chervonopiskyâs censure motion. Chervonopisky had shouted out, â The three words for which I feel we must all fight are state, motherland, and communism .â Speaker after speaker heaped opprobrium on Sakharov. âWho gave him the right to insult our children?â a middle-aged farm worker had declared indignantly.
Nikolai Trimov closed his eyes and formulated a sacred pledge. Something that had been gestating deep within him since he first absorbed the details of The Episode from the lips of a schoolmate six years before, and fused them with what he had learned about the death of his grandparents.
Nikolai resolved to assassinate the leader of the Soviet enterprise. That meant, to kill the General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev.
CHAPTER 8
APRIL 1995
Wearing light corduroys and a crew-necked gray sweater, Blackford opened the door of his house in Virginia to Arthur Blaustein, chief counsel to the Senate Committee on Intelligence. Blackford had read several months agoâand this morning had got from Nexis a copy, to refresh his memoryâthe profile of Blaustein published in the Washington Post the day his appointment was announced by Senator Blanton.
Arthur Blaustein was born in 1960, the son of a federal judge in Milwaukee. At the University of Wisconsin he majored in Russian studies and served as editor of The Daily Cardinal , the student newspaper. In a widely discussed editorial published a week before the 1980 election, the student newspaper, at the direction of editor Blaustein, endorsed the candidacy of Barry Commoner and LaDonna Harris, who were running for President and Vice President on the American equivalent of a Green ticket, calling for environmentalist totalism and unilateral disarmament. From there to the law school at Harvard, after which Blaustein clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall. From there he went to work for independent counsel Lawrence Walsh, who was investigating Iran-Contra, the gravamen of which was that the Reagan administration had illegally supported the Contra movement in Nicaragua, using funds illicitly obtained for that purpose. Blaustein was prominently associated with the trials of John Poindexter, Oliver North, and Richard Secord. He was highly visible in the prosecution of Elliott Abrams and Caspar Weinberger, whose prosecutions were aborted by the controversial pardons handed down by President Bush in the last days of his presidency.
One week ago, the Senate had voted a contempt citation against Blackford Oakes. The sergeant at arms to whom the matter was assigned had yesterday announced that the malefactor, Blackford Oakes, should report to Room S321 in the Capitol at noon, April 19. This was a most unusual procedure, reactivating congressional punitive dramas associated for the most part with the nineteenth century.
The news story describing the Senate vote and the order given to the sergeant at arms explained the procedure in some detail. Any failure by Mr. Oakes to report as ordered would result in his arrest. The debate in the Senate had featured the spirited opposition of senators from the
Similar Books
